First released in 1995, this first compilation album of hit singles and popular album tracks by "The Boss" includes "Murder Incorporated" and "This Hard Land"two unused songs from the 1982 Born in the U.S.A. sessions that subsequently became Springsteen concert staples. Also among the 18 tracks are "Born to Run," "Thunder Road," "Badlands," "The River," "Hungry Heart," "Atlantic City," "Dancing in the Dark," "Born in the U.S.A.," "My Hometown," "Glory Days," "Brilliant Disguise," "Human Touch," "Better Days," "Streets of Philadelphia," "Secret Garden" (used on the soundtrack of the 1996 film Jerry Maguire), and "Blood Brothers" (played as the final closing song of both the 19992000 Reunion Tour and 20022003 Rising Tour).

"Springsteen is a peerless songwriter and consummate artist whose every painstakingly crafted album serves as an impassioned and literate pulse taking of a generation's fortunes. He is the foremost live performer in the history of rock & roll, a self-described prisoner of the music he loves, for whom every show is played as if it might be his last. Though some may argue the point, Springsteen single-handedly rescued rock & roll from its banal post-'60s doldrums. Moreover, his music developed a conscience that didn't ignore the darkening of the runaway American dream as the country greedily blundered its way through the '80s."Rolling Stone